Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) is a sub-uni¿ed command located at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. JSOC’s role is to ³study special operations require-ments and techniques, ensure interoperability and equipment standardization, plan and conduct special operations e[ercises and training, and develop Moint spe-cial operations tactics.”2 JSOC personnel include ³an impressive amalgamation of rigorously screened Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Civilians.”27
2 USSOCOM, U.S. Special Operations Command Fact Book 2013, p. 22.
27 Ibid.
Navy Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen conduct a live-¿re e[ercise aboard a Special Operations Craft-Riverine.
A2/AD Anti-Access / Area-Denial*
AC-130 ³Spectre,” ³Spooky,” or ³Stinger II” gunship AFP Armed Forces of the Philippines
AFRICOM U.S. Africa Command
AFSB AÀoat Forward Staging Base
AFSOC Air Force Special Operations Command AFSOF Air Force Special Operations Forces
ALP Afghan Local Police
AMISOM African Union Mission in Somalia AOR Area of Responsibility
AQIM Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
ARSOAC Army Special Operations Aviation Command
ARSOF Army Special Operations Forces
ASAT Anti-Satellite (weapons)
ASCM Anti-Ship Cruise Missile
ASDS Advanced Seal Delivery System
ASG Abu Sayyaf Group
BPC Building Partner Capacity
BUD/S Basing Underwater Demolition / SEAL (training) C-130 ³Hercules” transport aircraft
C2 Command and Control
C4ISR Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance*
CA Civil Ăairs*
CAMPLAN Campaign Plan
CAP Combined Action Plan
CASEVAC Casualty Evacuation
CAT Civil Ăairs Team
CBRN Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear
CCT Combat Controller
CENTCOM U.S. Central Command
CIA Central Intelligence Agency
CIF Commander’s In-E[tremis Force*
CMET Civil-Military Engagement Team
CMSE Civil-Military Support Element
COCOM Combatant Command
COIN Counterinsurgency*
CONUS Continental United States
CORDS Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support CN Counternarcotics
CSAR Combat Search and Rescue
CSO Critical Skills Operator
CT Counterterrorism*
CTR Cooperative Threat Reduction D3A Decide, Detect, Deliver, Assess
DCS-M Dry Combat Submersible-Medium
DoD Department of Defense
DoS Department of State
DSG Defense Strategic Guidance EHF E[tremely High Frequency (radio)
ELINT Electronic Intelligence
EOD E[plosive Ordnance Demolition
F3EAD Find, Fi[, Finish, E[ploit, Analyze, Disseminate FARC Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation
FED Foreign E[ternal Defense
FID Foreign Internal Defense*
FORGEN Force Generation
FY Fiscal Year
FYDP Future Years Defense Program
GCC Geographic Combatant Command
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GPF General Purpose Forces*
GSCF Global Security Contingency Fund*
GTEP Global Train and Equip Program
HIG Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin
HPM High Power Microwave
IADS Integrated Air Defense System
IATF Inter-Agency Task Force
IRGC Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps
ISAF International Security Assistance Force (Afghanistan) ISR Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance*
JCET Joint Combined E[change Training*
JIATF Joint Inter-Agency Task Force*
JMMS Joint Multi-Mission Submersible
JSOC Joint Special Operations Command
JSOTF Joint Special Operations Task Force*
JSOTF-P Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines JTAC Joint Terminal Attack Controller*
KASOTC .ing Abdullah II Special Operations Training Center
LOC Line of Communication
MADL Multifunction Advanced Data Link
MARSOC Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command MARSOF Marine Special Operations Forces
MAVNI Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest MFP MaMor Force Program*
MH-47 ³Chinook” heavy-lift transport helicopter MH-60 ³Black Hawk” medium-lift utility helicopter
MILF Moro Islamic Liberation Front
MISO Military Information Support Operations*
MIST Military Information Support Team MOS Military Occupational Specialty MSOB Marine Special Operations Battalion MSOR Marine Special Operations Regiment NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization NAVSOF Navy Special Operations Forces NAVSPECWARCOM Naval Special Warfare Command
NCO Non-Commissioned Ȯcer
NCS National Clandestine Service NDAA National Defense Authorization Act
NSCC NATO SOF Coordination Center
NSHQ NATO SOF Headquarters
NSW Naval Special Warfare*
O&M Operations and Maintenance OCO Overseas Contingency Operations*
ODA Operational Detachment Alpha (³A-Team”) OEF-P Operation Enduring Freedom-Philippines
OIF Operation Iraqi Freedom
OPCON Operational Control
OPTEMPO Operational Tempo*
OSS Ȯce of Strategic Services
PACOM U.S. Paci¿c Command
PCS Permanent Change of Station PE Preparation of the Environment*
PED Processing, E[ploitation, Dissemination *
PERSTEMPO Personnel Tempo*
PJ Pararescueman PNP Philippine National Police
POTFF Preservation of the Forces and Families PSI Proliferation Security Initiative
PSYOP Psychological Operations
QDR Quadrennial Defense Review
R&D Research and Development
RASP Ranger Assessment and Selection Program RIP Ranger Indoctrination Program
ROP Ranger Orientation Program RSCC Regional SOF Coordination Center
SATCOM Satellite Communications
SCO Shanghai Cooperation Organization
SDV SEAL Delivery Vehicle
SEAL Sea, Air, Land
SF Special Forces
SFA Security Force Assistance*
SIGINT Signals Intelligence
SMU Special Mission Unit*
SOAR Special Operations Aviation Regiment SOC FWD Special Operations Command, Forward SOCCENT Special Operations Command, Central
SOCOM Special Operations Command
SOCS Special Operations Capabilities Specialists SOCSOUTH Special Operations Command, South SOF Special Operations Forces*
SOFORGEN Special Operations Force Generation
SOJTF-A Special Operations Joint Task Force-Afghanistan
SO-Peculiar Special Operations-Peculiar*
SOPGM Special Operations Precision Guided Munition SOS Special Operations Squadron
SOUTHCOM U.S. Southern Command
SR Special Reconnaissance*
SSE Sensitive Site E[ploitation*
ST Special Tactics
SWAT Special Weapons and Tactics
SWCC Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewman TSCP Theater Security Cooperation Plan
TSOC Theater Special Operations Command*
TTL Tag, Track, Locate
TTP Tactic, Technique, and Procedure UAS Unmanned Aircraft System
UAV Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
UHF Ultra-High Frequency (radio)
USAID U.S. Agency for International Development
USARC U.S. Army Reserve Command
USASFC U.S. Army Special Forces Command USASOC U.S. Army Special Operations Command USSOCOM U.S. Special Operations Command
UW Unconventional Warfare*
VBSS Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure
VEN Violent E[tremist Network*
VSO Village Stability Operations*
WARCOM Naval Special Warfare Command
WMD Weapons of Mass Destruction*
Anti-Access/Area-Denial (A2/AD) – AdMective applied to capabilities, forces, and strategies that are intended to prevent an adversary from entering a theater of operations (anti-access) and operating ĕectively within it (area-denial). China and Iran are often cited as leaders in the development of such capabilities, forces, and strategies.
C4ISR – Command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveil-lance, and reconnaissance. The collection of military systems used to gather, pro-cess, and share information.
&LYLO $̆DLUV &$ 2SHUDWLRQV Military operations that ³enhance the rela-tionship between military forces and civil authorities in localities where military forces are present; require coordination with other interagency organizations, intergovernmental organizations, nongovernmental organizations, indigenous populations and institutions, and the private sector; and involve application of functional specialty skills that normally are the responsibility of civil government to enhance the conduct of civil-military operations.” (JP 3-57)
Clandestine Operations – ³Operation[s] sponsored or conducted by govern-mental departments or agencies in such a way as to assure secrecy or conceal-ment. A clandestine operation dĭers from a covert operation in that emphasis is placed on concealment of the operation rather than on concealment of identity of the sponsor. In special operations, an activity may be both covert and clandestine and may focus equally on operational considerations and intelligence-related ac-tivities.” (JP 3-05.1)
Commander’s In-Extremis Force (CIF) – Special operations unit kept on standby to respond to crises in which direct-action skills might be needed (e.g., counterterrorism, hostage rescue). Each Geographic Combatant Command has one CIF at its disposal, typically a specially trained Special Forces company.
Conventional Forces – ³Those forces capable of conducting operations using non-nuclear weapons. [And] [t]hose forces other than designated special opera-tions forces.” (JP 3-05) Also known as general-purpose forces (GPF).
Counterinsurgency (COIN) – ³Comprehensive civilian and military ĕorts taken to defeat an insurgency and to address any core grievances.” (JP 3-2)
Counterproliferation (CP) – ³Actions taken to defeat the threat and/or use of weapons of mass destruction against the United States, our forces, friends, allies, and partners.” (JP 3-0)
Counterterrorism (CT) – ³Actions taken directly against terrorist networks and indirectly to inÀuence and render global and regional environments inhospi-table to terrorist networks.” (JP 3-2)
Denied Environments – Areas into which proMecting inÀuence and/or military power is e[tremely di̇cult due to geographical factors and/or adversary capabilities.
Direct Action (DA) – “Short-duration strikes and other small-scale ŏensive actions conducted as a special operation in hostile, denied, or diplomatically sen-sitive environments and which employ specialized military capabilities to seize, destroy, capture, e[ploit, recover, or damage designated targets.” (JP 3-05)
Enablers – Personnel, forces, and capabilities that provide essential support to special operations, such as intelligence, logistics, medical treatment, and transport.
End Strength – The ma[imum number of personnel a military organization is authorized to have (speci¿cally, at the end of the ¿scal year).
F3EAD – Find, ¿[, ¿nish, e[ploit, analyze, disseminate. The network-based tar-geting approach developed since 9/11 to closely integrate operational and intelli-gence functions.
Force Generation (FORGEN) – The process by which forces are made ready and available for deployment. The force generation process for SOF, called SO-FORGEN, is still under development and will be ¿nalized in 2013.
Foreign Internal Defense (FID) – ³Participation by civilian and military agen-cies of a government in any of the action programs taken by another government or other designated organization to free and protect its society from subversion, lawlessness, insurgency, terrorism, and other threats to its security.” (JP 3-22)
Global Security Contingency Fund (GSCF) – A pool of money, authorized (but not appropriated) by Section 1207 of the National Defense Authorization Act, that is created by reprogramming funds from other budgets within Department of Defense and the Department of State. These Mointly administered monies are used to provide resources for Àe[ibly engaging and supporting foreign military and security forces.
General Purpose Forces (GPF) - The armed forces of a country not including nuclear forces and SOF. These forces often include units and personnel that sup-port and enable SOF, but are not included in the latter.
Geographic Combatant Command (GCC) – A Uni¿ed Combatant Command with responsibility for conducting military operations within a given region. The si[ GCCs are: NORTHCOM (North America), SOUTHCOM (the Caribbean, Cen-tral, and South America, EUCOM (Europe, Russia, and Israel), AFRICOM (Africa, less Egypt), CENTCOM (the Middle East and Central Asia), and PACOM (India, East Asia and Southeast Asia, Oceania, and the Paci¿c).
High-Demand/Low-Density – Description applied to forces and assets that are greatly desired by ¿eld commanders but are not available in su̇cient quan-tity to meet demand. High-demand/low-density forces and assets typically must endure high operational and personnel tempo.
ISR – Intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, and, by e[tension, the forc-es and systems that provide them (e.g., MQ-1 Predator UAVs).
Joint Combined Exchange Training (JCET) – ³A program conducted over-seas to ful¿ll US forces training requirements and at the same time e[change the sharing of skills between US forces and host nation counterparts.” (JP 3-05) Typ-ically involves small groups of U.S. SOF conducting short-duration e[ercises with partner forces.
Joint Interagency Task Force (JIATF) – A task force composed of DoD per-sonnel and interagency partners.
Joint Special Operations Task Force (JSOTF) – ³A Moint task force com-posed of special operations units from more than one service, formed to carry out a speci¿c special operation or prosecute special operations in support of a theater campaign or other operations.” (JP 3-05) The Moint special operations task force may have conventional units assigned or attached to support the conduct of spe-ci¿c missions.
Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) – ³A quali¿ed (certi¿ed) Service member who, from a forward position, directs the action of combat aircraft engaged in close air support and other ŏensive air operations. A quali¿ed and current Moint terminal attack controller will be recognized across the Department of Defense as capable and authorized to perform terminal attack control.” (JP 3-09.3)
Kinetic Operations – An unȯcial term typically used to refer to military oper-ations focused on the application of violence; it is roughly synonymous with direct action. Used in apposition to non-kinetic or ³indirect” operations such as training and advising, civil ăairs, and military information support.
Major Force Program-11 (MFP-11) – MaMor Force Programs are aggregations of program elements within the Future Years Defense Program (FYDP) according to the forces and missions they support. MFP-11 is the aggregation of funding that is provided to Special Operations Command to address requirements that are SOF-peculiar in nature.
Military Information Support Operations (MISO) – “Planned operations to convey selected information and indicators to foreign audiences to inÀuence their emotions, motives, obMective reasoning, and ultimately the behavior of for-eign governments, organizations, groups, and individuals in a manner favorable to the originator’s obMectives.” (JP 3-13.2)
National SOF – Special operations forces that, unlike Theater SOF, are not sub-ordinate to theater commanders, but rather carry out national missions, such as direct-action counterterrorism, at the behest of the president or secretary of de-fense. Also called Special Mission Units or ³Black” SOF.
Naval Special Warfare (NSW) – ³A naval warfare specialty that conducts spe-cial operations with an emphasis on maritime, coastal, and riverine environments using small, Àe[ible, mobile units operating under, on, and from the sea.” (JP 3-05)
Operations Tempo (OPTEMPO) – “The rate at which units of the armed forc-es are involved in all military activitiforc-es, including contingency operations, exercis-es, and training deployments.” (10 USC Sec. 991)
Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) – Term used to refer to post-9/11 military operations and their budgeting requirements, as distinguished from peacetime or base operations and budgeting requirements.
Personnel Tempo (PERSTEMPO) – Often expressed in terms of “deploy to dwell” or “BOG (boots-on-ground)-dwell” ratios comparing the number of years personnel spend deployed (for combat, training, or education) to the number of years spent at home. For example, a deployed to dwell ratio of 1:2 indicates that personnel spend two years at home for every year deployed.
Preparation of the Environment (PE) – “An umbrella term for operations and activities conducted by selectively trained special operations forces to develop an environment for potential future special operations.” (JP 3-05)
Preservation of the Force and Families (POTFF) – Initiative by USSO-COM to maintain the health and wellness of special operators and their families.
Processing, Exploitation, and Dissemination (PED) – The three-stage process by which collected information is converted to useful intelligence.
Proxy War – A war in which one or more belligerents is supported by outside powers that are not themselves directly involved in the ¿ghting.
Render Safe – “The interruption of functions or separation of essential com-ponents of unexploded explosive ordnance [including, perhaps most critically, weapons of mass destruction] to prevent an unacceptable detonation.” (JP 3-15.1)
Section 1204 (Formerly Section 1206) – Section of the National Defense Authorization Act that authorizes the Global Train and Equip Program (GTEP) and thereby provides the funding SOF use to train and equip foreign military and security forces for counterterrorism operations and to facilitate their participation in and support of U.S. counterterrorism and stability operations.
Section 1207 – The section of the National Defense Authorization Act that authorizes the Global Security Contingency Fund (GSCF) and transitional funding authorities.
Section 1203 (Formerly Section 1208) – The section of the National Defense Authorization Act that authorizes “support of military operations to combat ter-rorism” and thereby provides funding needed by SOF to support foreign regular and irregular forces supporting or facilitating U.S. counterterrorism operations.
Security Force Assistance (SFA) – “Activities that contribute to uni¿ed ac-tion by the US Government to support the development of the capacity and capa-bility of foreign security forces and their supporting institutions.” (JP 3-22)
Special Activities – “Activities conducted in support of national foreign policy obMectives that are planned and executed so that the role of the US Government is not apparent or acknowledged publicly. They are also functions in support of such activities but are not intended to inÀuence US political processes, public opinion, policies, or media and do not include diplomatic activities or the collection and production of intelligence or related support functions.” (JP 3-05)
Special Operations-Peculiar (SO-Peculiar) – AdMective describing “equip-ment, material, supplies, and services required for special operations missions for which there is no Service-common requirement.” (JP 3-05) SO-peculiarity is important in budgeting, as SO-peculiar requirements must be funded with MaMor Force Program-11 funding from USSOCOM.
Sensitive Site Exploitation (SSE) – Activities conducted in the wake of op-erations to exploit captured personnel, documents, electronic data, and material.
Special Forces (SF) – “U.S. Army forces organized, trained, and equipped to conduct special operations with an emphasis on unconventional warfare capabil-ities.” (JP 3-05) Also known as “Green Berets” after their distinctive headgear.
Special Mission Unit (SMU) – “A generic term to represent a group of oper-ators and support personnel from designated organizations that are task-orga-nized to perform highly classi¿ed activities.” (JP 3-05.1) Also called “National” or
“Black” SOF.
Special Operations – “Operations requiring unique modes of employment, tac-tical techniques, equipment and training often conducted in hostile, denied, or po-litically sensitive environments and characterized by one or more of the following:
time sensitive, clandestine, low visibility, conducted with and/or through indige-nous forces, requiring regional expertise, and/or a high degree of risk.” (JP 3-05)
Special Operations Forces (SOF) – “Those Active and Reserve Component forces of the Military Services designated by the Secretary of Defense and spe-ci¿cally organized, trained, and equipped to conduct and support special opera-tions.” (JP 3-05)
Special Reconnaissance (SR) – “Reconnaissance and surveillance actions conducted as a special operation in hostile, denied or politically sensitive environ-ments to collect or verify information of strategic or operational signi¿cance, em-ploying military capabilities not normally found in conventional forces.” (JP 3-05)
Special Warfare – “The execution of activities that involve a combination of le-thal and nonlele-thal actions taken by a specially trained and educated force that has a deep understanding of cultures and foreign language, pro¿ciency in small-unit tactics, and the ability to build and ¿ght alongside indigenous combat formations in a permissive, uncertain, or hostile environment.” (ADP 3-05)
Stability Operations – “An overarching term encompassing various military missions, tasks and activities conducted outside the United States in coordination with other instruments of national power to maintain or re-establish a safe and secure environment, provide essential governmental services, emergency infra-structure reconstruction and humanitarian relief.” (JP 3-0)
Surgical Strike – “The execution of activities in a precise manner that employ special operations forces in hostile, denied, or politically sensitive environments to seize, destroy, capture, exploit, recover or damage designated targets, or inÀu-ence threats.” (ADP 3-05)
Theater SOF – SOF that, unlike National SOF, are under the operational con-trol of the GCCs and are directly commanded and concon-trolled by a Theater Special Operations Command (TSOC).
Theater Special Operations Command (TSOC) – “A subordinate uni¿ed command established by a combatant commander to plan, coordinate, conduct, and support Moint special operations.” (JP 3-05)
Unconventional Warfare (UW) – “Activities conducted to enable a resis-tance movement or insurgency to coerce, disrupt, or overthrow a government or occupying power by operating through or with an underground, auxiliary, and guerrilla force in a denied area.” (JP 3-05)
Village Stability Operations (VSO) – Operations conducted by SOF in Af-ghanistan to gain the trust of village elders, build local security capacity, strength-en local civilian institutions and infrastructure, and ĕectively convey informa-tion about these ĕorts to target populainforma-tions.
Violent Extremist Networks (VENs) – Non-state networks of individuals and small groups, including but not limited to al Qaeda and associated move-ments, that pose a national security threat due to the combination of their ex-treme ideology, clandestine operations, network organization, and their capacity for violence.
Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) – “Chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear weapons capable of a high order of destruction or causing mass casual-ties and exclude the means of transporting or propelling the weapon where such means is a separable and divisible part from the weapon.” (JP 3-0)
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